ABN Amro Rotterdam, Memphis, B.A., Look Forward To Del Rey, Rio And Marseille

Written by: on 15th February 2014
US National Indoor Tennis Championships
ABN Amro Rotterdam, Memphis, B.A., Look Forward To Del Rey, Rio And Marseille

epa04080399 Ivo Karlovic of Croatia hits a return shot to Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan in their semi final match in the US National Indoor Tennis Championships at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, 15 February 2014. Karlovic won the match when Lu retired due to injury. EPA/TANNEN MAURY  |

PRO TOUR NEWS – MEN

 

This time, we have all the day’s matches. Sorry that this comes in at all different hours all the time. But tennis being

***

 

* Cilic finally ends Sijsling’s run; to face Berdych in Rotterdam

* Top seeds Ferrer, Almagro to contest Buenos Aires title

* Nishikori easily returns to Memphis final; Karlovic advances when Lu retires

****** TODAY’S MEN’S NEWS

 

Rotterdam

 

Singles – Semifinal: (3) T Berdych def. E Gulbis 6-3 6-2

After all the upsets we’d had to this point, this seems almost unnatural. A seed winning? What is the world coming to?

What Tomas Berdych is coming to, or at least coming close to, is the #6 ranking. Win the title and it’s his; indeed, he will be just bare points behind Juan Martin del Potro in the contest for #5. Ernests Gulbis will be #23 or #24.

Singles – Semifinal: M Cilic def. (WC) I Sijsling 5-7 6-3 6-2

It was one of the best runs of Igor Sijsling’s career, but it ends with him just below the Top Fifty. And Marin Cilic… now has nine straight wins, and he’s zooming in the rankings. From #37 he rises to #25 — and will be #21 if he wins the title.

Doubles – Semifinal: Llodra/Mahut def. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski 6-3 6-4

Michael Llodra’s singles career seems to be just about over, but he’s making a pretty good doubles comeback — this might well put him back in the Top Twenty. Nicholas Mahut won’t be far behind.

Doubles – Semifinal: Rojer/Tecau def. Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin 7-6(8-6) 6-4

Buenos Aires

 

Singles – Semifinal: (1) (WC) D Ferrer def. (4) N Almagro 6-4 6-2

David Ferrer won this title last year, but those points don’t come off for another week, and this finally lets him start adding some insurance points. He can’t rise above #4 this week, though. Nicolas Almagro will stay at #18.

Singles – Semifinal: (2) F Fognini def. (3) T Robredo 3-6 7-5 6-3

It’s back to long matches, it seems, for Fabio Fognini — long matches, and no points for them; he has all the 250 point events he can really use. The main effect of this is to keep Tommy Robredo from hitting the Top Fifteen. And to keep the Spaniard very frustrated; Robredo let 6-3 5-3 before Fognini started his comeback.

Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Granollers/M Lopez def. Dolgopolov/Starace 6-4 6-4

Pretty token opposition, but Granollers/Lopez must feel fairly good about this; they hadn’t made a final since Cincinnati 2013, and haven’t won anything since taking the title at London 2012!

Memphis

 

Singles – Semifinal: (1) (WC) K Nishikori def. M Russell 6-3 6-2

For the moment, this lets defending champion Kei Nishikori keep the #16 ranking; he could rise to #15 if he wins this title. But that’s with two copies of Memphis on his record; when Memphis 2013 comes off, he will fall, because Memphis 2013 was bigger than the 2014 edition.

Michael Russell will add some points, but this was only his third ATP semifinal, and he has never yet made a final. Given his age, he probably never will, now. It must be really frustrating — especially given that he won three of the first four games of this match.

Singles – Semifinal: I Karlovic def. (4) Y Lu 6-1, retired (neck)

This almost doesn’t deserve to be called a match; Ivo Karlovic won two-thirds of the points before Yen-Hsun Lu quit. Lu will end up around #46. Karlovic will be around #50 if he can win the title.

Doubles – Semifinal: (1) Bryan/Bryan def. (3) S Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-3 6-7(2-7) 10-6

Doubles – Semifinal: (2) Butorac/Klaasen def. Cermak/Elgin 7-5 6-4

The draw here isn’t very strong, except for the Bryans, but Butorac/Klaasen continue to look like one of the breakthrough teams of 2014. It will be interesting to see if they can pull off another big upset in the final.

Men’s Look Forward: Rio de Janeiro, Marseille, Delray Beach

 

Marseille. This used to be one of the strongest optional events on the schedule. Even in the last few years, when the creation of the 250 point events meant that low-tier optionals were all but worthless, it has been fairly tough. Not any more. Oh, because it’s French, it managed to lure two Top Ten players — but they’re the lowest-ranked of the Top Ten, Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. And Gasquet, in particular, has been faltering; he has scheduled far too many events, and it’s showing. He is nonetheless the #1 seed, with Tsonga #2. But there are no other Top Twenty players; #3 seed Ernests Gulbis is the only other Top Thirty player. Slumping Andreas Seppi (who probably should have picked a clay event instead) is #4, Ivan Dodig #5, Edouard Roger-Vasselin #6, Julien Benneteau #7 (even though he would be unseeded based on his post-Rotterdam ranking), and Nicolas Mahut #8. That’s five French players among the eight seeds…. And they aren’t likely to be threatened; other than Tsonga, who will open against either Nikolay Davydenko or suddenly-hot Igor Sijsling, none of the seeds faces much in the way of opposition.

Delray Beach has a history of being overshadowed by the other events scheduled for this week, but this time, it’s at least as deep as Marseille, although it doesn’t have any Top Ten players (or any byes; it’s a full 32-draw, as opposed to the 28-draw in France). Tommy Haas, who seems to intend to play 250 point events until he drops dead of lack of exhaustion, is the #1 seed. John Isner finally comes back into action as the #2. Kei Nishikori is #3, with Kevin Anderson #4. Vasek Pospisil returns to action as the #5 seed (in Isner’s quarter; that seems to be the injury ward); Feliciano Lopez is #6. Marin Cilic, despite having already played nine matches in the last two weeks, will cross the Atlantic to take the #7 seed; Lleyton Hewitt is #8. At least a few of the seeds could be challenged. Lopez opens against Sam Querrey. Anderson’s second round opponent might be Ivo Karlovic. And Pospisil might face Marcos Baghdatis in round two — although Baghdatis really seems a spent force.

Rio de Janeiro is the biggest of this week’s events — it’s a 500 pointer — but it’s also the new event. That often means a weak field. There are signs of that this week — but we’ve certainly seen weaker events! There are a lot of Spanish clay experts here — including world #1 Rafael Nadal. Plus David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, Nicolas Almagro, and Marcel Granollers. That’s five Spaniards among the top six seeds. The only non-Spaniard is Fabio Fognini — who, to be sure, has made the final or better of his last five clay events; maybe he should be an honorary Spaniard or something. Nadal is of course the #1 seed, with Ferrer #2, Fognini #3, Robredo #4, Almagro #5, and Granollers #7. Argentina’s Juan Monaco is #7, with Spain’s Pablo Andujar #8. A low cutoff for seeding for a 500 point event, but they definitely all like clay!

There aren’t many big unseeded threats, but Granollers will have to open against Joao Sousa, which these days feels like it might produce an upset; Almagro starts against Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Ferrer opens against Jeremy Chardy.

The Rankings

The events this week are very different from last year. The big event of 2013 was Memphis, a 500 pointer won by Kei Nishikori, over Benjamin Becker; Marinko Matosevic and Denis Istomin were semifinalists (the latter three, obviously, in big trouble; Becker’s Top Hundred spot is almost certainly gone, and Istomin may lose his Top Fifty spot). Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the 2013 edition of Marseille, over Tomas Berdych, with semifinalists Dmitry Tursunov and Gilles Simon. The other event was Buenos Aires, another 250, won by David Ferrer, with finalist Stanislas Wawrinka and semifinalists Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro.

The Big Two of Nadal and Djokovic won’t be affected; Nadal will stay #1 (he even has a chance to pad his lead), with Djokovic #2. It’s just barely possible that Wawrinka could lose the #3 ranking to Ferrer — but only if Ferrer defends in Buenos Aires and cleans up in Rio; the gap between them is big, and Wawrinka doesn’t really have much to defend. With Juan Martin del Potro not in action, Ferrer is safe at #4. Del Potro looks secure at #5, and it doesn’t appear #6 Murray, #7 Berdych, or #8 Federer will be moving (unless Berdych makes it to #6 at Rotterdam, anyway). We again have the chance that #10 Tsonga could pass #9 Gasquet.

There is no possibility of a new name in the Top Ten. We might see Milos Raonic lose the #11 spot to Haas or Isner or just possibly Fognini.

Nishikori faces the risk of losing his Top Twenty spot, although defending his title at Memphis would make that fairly

THIS WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Rotterdam (500/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Juan Martin del Potro

Memphis (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion (as an ATP 500): Kei Nishikori

Buenos Aires (250/Clay). Defending Champion: David Ferrer

NEXT WEEK ON THE ATP WORLD TOUR:

Rio de Janeiro (500/Clay). Defending Champion: New Event

Marseille (250/Indoor Hard). Defending Champion: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Delray Beach (250/Hard). Defending Champion: Ernests Gulbis

******** STATS AND FACTS ********

 

RANKINGS

 

Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings

As of February 14, 2013

 

Rank &

Prior…Player………..Points

1..(1) Nadal………….14085

2..(2) Djokovic……….10580

3..(3) Wawrinka………..5710

4..(5) Ferrer………….5340

5..(4) Del Potro……….4960

6..(6) Murray………….4840

7..(7) Berdych…………4750

8..(8) Federer…………4305

9..(9) Gasquet…………2950

10.(10) Tsonga………….2885

11.(11) Raonic………….2485

12.(12) Haas……………2435

13.(13) Isner…………..2320

14.(14) Fognini…………2260

15.(15) Youzhny…………2100

16.(16) Nishikori……….2070

17.(17) Robredo…………2050

18.(18) Almagro…………1930

19.(20) Janowicz………..1750

20.(19) Dimitrov………..1675

21.(22) Anderson………..1580

22.(21) Simon…………..1565

23.(24) Gulbis………….1558

24.(23) Monfils…………1475

25.(37) Cilic…………..1385

26.(27) Kohlschreiber……1375

27.(25) Pospisil………..1359

28.(26) Lopez…………..1355

29.(28) Tursunov………..1314

30.(29) Paire…………..1275

**DRAWS

 

Rotterdam — week of February 10, 2014

…………….QF…………….SF………F

1 del Potro…..(1)del Potro

8 Dimitrov……Gulbis…………Gulbis

3 Berdych…….(3)Berdych……..Berdych….Berdych

6 Haas……….Janowicz

 

7 Youzhny…….Sijsling(WC)……Sijsling

4 Gasquet…….Kohlscheiber

5 Tsonga……..Cilic………….Cilic……Cilic

2 Murray (WC)…(2)Murray(WC)

 

STATUS OF SEEDS

1 del Potro…..lost QF (Gulbis)

2 Murray (WC)…lost QF (Cilic)

3 Berdych

4 Gasquet…….lost 2R (Kohlschreiber)

5 Tsonga……..lost 2R (Cilic)

6 Haas……….lost 2R (Janowicz)

7 Youzhny…….lost 1R (Sijsling)

8 Dimitrov……lost 2R (Gulbis)

Memphis — week of February 10, 2014

………………..QF…………….SF……….F

1 Nishikori (WC)….(1)Nishikori……Nishikori…Nishikori

6 Querrey………..Bogomolov

3 Hewitt…………(3)Hewitt

7 Przysiezny……..Russell………..Russell

 

8 Kukushkin………Al.Kunetsov(Q)

4 Lu…………….(4)Lu………….Lu

5 Matosevic………Sock

2 F Lopez………..Karlovic……….Karlovic…Karlovic

 

STATUS OF SEEDS

1 Nishikori (WC)

2 F Lopez………lost 2R (Karlovic)

3 Hewitt……….lost QF (Russell)

4 Lu…………..lost SF (Karlovic)

5 Matosevic…….lost 1R (Vesely)

6 Querrey………lost 1R (Bogomolov)

7 Przysiezny……lost 1R (Russell)

8 Kukushkin…….lost 2R (Kuznetsov)

Buenos Aires — week of February 10, 2014

…………..QF………….SF…….F

1 Ferrer (WC).(1)Ferrer(WC)..Ferrer…Ferrer

7 Monaco……Ramos

4 Almagro…..(4)Almagro…..Almagro

8 Chardy……(8)Chardy

 

6 Haase…….(6)Haase

3 Robredo…..(3)Robredo…..Robredo

5 Granollers..Andujar

2 Fognini…..(2)Fognini…..Fognini..Fognini

 

STATUS OF SEEDS

1 Ferrer (WC)

2 Fognini

3 Robredo…….lost SF (Fognini)

4 Almagro…….lost SF (Ferrer)

5 Granollers….lost 2R (Andujar)

6 Haase………lost QF (Robredo)

7 Monaco……..lost 1R (Ramos)

8 Chardy……..lost QF (Almagro)

Rio de Janeiro — week of February 17, 2014

1 Nadal

Gimeno-Traver

Montanes

Haase

L Mayer

Ramos

J Sousa

6 Granollers

 

4 Robredo

Carreno Busta

Volandri

Qualifier

Garcia-Lopez

Qualifier

Reister

8 Andujar

 

5 Almagro

Dolgopolov

Souza (WC)

Qualifier

Cuevas (PR)

A Gonzalez

Qualifier

3 Fognini

 

7 Monaco

Zeballos

Giraldo

Bellucci (WC)

Clezar (WC)

Delbonis

Chardy

2 Ferrer

Marseille — week of February 17, 2014

1 Gasquet

–bye

Kavcic

Kokkinakis (WC)

Kamke

Edmund (WC)

Olivetti (WC)

5 Dodig

 

3 Gulbis

–bye

Brown

Bautista Agut

Hajek

Qualifier

de Schepper

8 Mahut

 

7 Benneteau

Huta Galung

Qualifier

Struff

Lacko

Llodra

–bye

4 Seppi

 

6 Roger-Vasselin

Qualifier

Stakhovsky

Qualifier

Davydenko

Sijsling

–bye

2 Tsonga

Delray Beach — week of February 17, 2014

1 Haas

Qualifier

Qualifier

Kukushkin

Sock (WC)

Mannarino

Querrey

6 F Lopez

 

4 Anderson

Smyczek

Karlovic

Qualifier

Matosevic

Goffin

Klahn

8 Hewitt

 

7 Cilic

Becker

Lu

Harrison (WC)

Gabashvili

Ebden

Qualifier

3 Nishikori

 

5 Pospisil

Falla

Baghdatis (WC)

Vesely

Bogomolov

Sela

Russell

2 Isner

******** SCORES ********

 

SATURDAY

Rotterdam

Singles – Semifinal

(3) T Berdych def. E Gulbis 6-3 6-2

M Cilic def. (WC) I Sijsling 5-7 6-3 6-2

Doubles – Semifinal

Llodra/Mahut def. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski 6-3 6-4

Rojer/Tecau def. Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin 7-6(8-6) 6-4

Buenos Aires (Friday)

Singles – Quarterfinal

(1) (WC) D Ferrer def. A Ramos 6-1 6-2

(2) F Fognini def. P Andujar 6-4 6-3

(3) T Robredo def. (6) R Haase 6-1 2-0, retired

(4) N Almagro def. (8) J Chardy 7-6(9-7) 6-3

Doubles – Quarterfinal

(1) Granollers/M Lopez def. Monroe/Stadler 7-6(7-3) 6-1

Doubles – Semifinal

(4) Cuevas/Zeballos def. (WC) M Gonzalez/Schwank 7-5 6-3

 

Saturday (so far)

Singles – Semifinal

(1) (WC) D Ferrer def. (4) N Almagro 6-4 6-2

(2) F Fognini def. (3) T Robredo 3-6 7-5 6-3

Doubles – Semifinal

(1) Granollers/M Lopez def. Dolgopolov/Starace 6-4 6-4

Memphis (Friday)

Singles – Quarterfinal

(1) (WC) K Nishikori def. A Bogomolov Jr. 3-6 6-3 6-2

M Russell def. (3) L Hewitt 6-3 7-6(8-6)

(4) Y Lu def. (Q) Al. Kuznetsov 6-1 6-4

I Karlovic def. J Sock 7-6(7-4) 6-7(3-7) 6-3

Doubles – Quarterfinal

(1) Bryan/Bryan def. Guccione/Hewitt 6-3 7-6(7-0)

 

Saturday

Singles – Semifinal

(1) (WC) K Nishikori def. M Russell 6-3 6-2

I Karlovic def. (4) Y Lu 6-1, retired (neck)

Doubles – Semifinal

(1) Bryan/Bryan def. (3) S Gonzalez/Lipsky 6-3 6-7(2-7) 10-6

(2) Butorac/Klaasen def. Cermak/Elgin 7-5 6-4

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